New Clown doesn't look so good...

[Herndo]

I have a clown and a flame angel in my Q tank right now. I've already lost one clown, he was dead in 3 days. He looked ill from the time they arrived but this clown now looked happy. He has no visible symptoms. He doesn't really even look pale, but maybe he's lost a little color around the edges of his fins. He's been sluggish the last couple of days and this morning he was swimming at the very top of the tank near the surface. It looked like he was trying to get more air or something. The Q tank is being treated with copper from the other sick fish. It measured at .5 ppm and it stayed there for a week. I did a 10% water change last night and reinserted the filter pad/ charcoal for last night and today to polish the water. I'm doing another water change tonight and I was planning on testing the copper and bringing it back up to .5 ppm.

I saw him breathing hard with no visible signs and read that brook is a clowns worst enemy and by the time you can see it on them it's too late. I don't have any formalin but I did do a 6 minute dip in freshwater. He never freaked out he just laid there breathing. When he got back in the tank he did see a bit more active.

Any ideas?

 

[quarryshark]

What is the ammonia, nitrate and PH readings?
How did you conduct the FW dip? IF done improperly, they can cause way more damage than they are worth.
As far as swimming at the surface, many clowns do that. Mine do it every night. Go check during the day and see if he still is doing that.
Is he eating?

 

[Herndo]

I well aerated a gallon of RO/DI water at the same temp and PH as the tank water. He wasn't eating last night but a lot of the time he and the flame angel don't attack the food with me sitting there but if I leave and come back the food is all gone off the bottom of the tank, but I suspect my flame angel is the little pig in the tank. Last week the Clown was eating very well but not lately. I'm afraid it's brookynella. I'm thinking about getting some formalin before I go home tonight and maybe doing another freshwater dip tomorrow if he makes it that long. I didn't test my water this morning but I'll do it when I get home. A few days ago all were at 0 and the ph was 8.2 and temp is steady at 76

 

[quarryshark]

If you think is is brooks, I would suggest doing a 30 min SW formalin bath instead of the FW dip. Much less stressful, just make sure you airate the water well and watch the fish the whole time for stress. DO NOT heat the water, it can make formalin toxic to the fish.
If you decide to do a FW dip, make sure the PH and temp match the water from the qt tank.

 

[Herndo]

Just to clarify...

Just to clarify, when you say don't heat the water, that means for the water to be the same temp as the tank or just room temp out of the jug. I'm guessing same temp as tank but I want to make sure.

I'm also glad you told me that because I thought the Formalin bath was done in Fresh Water. But it's in SW huh? Interesting.

He was swimming vertically this morning when I turned on the light but he was in the bottom 3rd of the water column, as soon as the lights turned on he darted a few inches and swam horizontaly, (normal) and headed straight to the top of the tank like before.

 

[steve-s]

Re: Just to clarify...

Just to clarify, when you say don't heat the water, that means for the water to be the same temp as the tank or just room temp out of the jug. I'm guessing same temp as tank but I want to make sure.

It means do not let the treatment water get above 79° at any time. Formalin becomes toxic at temps above 80°. Also be sure the water is well aerated with an airstone during the treatment and watch the pH.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Herndo]

Thanks Very Much!

 

[PumaKrieg]

Sounds like what happened to my new clown

 

[quarryshark]

I thought the Formalin bath was done in Fresh Water . But it's in SW huh?

Yes, SW is less stressful and you can give them a longer treatment period (30 minutes). The formalin is stressful enough, add the FW to the equation and it may overstress him.
Like Steve stated, be sure to airate well during treatment.